11 most interesting moments of the GOP debate

Donald Trump took center-stage Thursday night in Houston as the irrefutable front-runner in the final Republican debate before Super Tuesday. Flanking the billionaire, Sens. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio sought to make clear that the quest for the Republican nomination is a three-man race, not a one-man show. Here are the most memorable moments of the night:

1. Rubio engages TrumpFielding a question on immigration, Rubio in his response went after Trump for hiring illegal immigrants and paying $1 million after a suit was filed. Rubio pointed to some of the businessman’s past stances on immigration, remarking that many of Trump’s positions are new.

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“Donald, you’ve hired a significant number of people from other countries to take jobs that Americans could have filled,” Rubio said, charging that Trump has hired more than a thousand immigrants to fill domestic jobs.

Trump said he hired immigrants for part-time jobs during hot seasons in Florida that most people didn’t want to work.

“You’re the only person on this stage that’s ever been fined for hiring people to work on your projects illegally,” Rubio responded.

Trump charged that he’s the only person on stage who’s hired anyone at all.

After a tense exchange, Rubio concluded, “He hired workers from Poland and he had to pay a million dollars or so in a judgment. That’s a fact.”

While Trump maintained Rubio was wrong, Cruz later jumped in to say Trump was found guilty as part of a conspiracy for hiring people illegally.

2. Cruz has no friends in the SenateTrump, who scored his first two congressional endorsements this week, hammered Cruz for lacking Senate support.

“I got along with everybody,” he told the Texas senator. “You get along with nobody. You don’t have one Republican — you don’t have one Republican senator and you work with them every day in your life, although you skipped a lot of time — these are minor details. But you don’t have one Republican senator backing you. Not one…You should be ashamed of yourself.”

Cruz’s response? Trump does get along with everybody — especially Democrats. “You know, I actually think Donald is right. He is promising that if he’s elected he will go and cut deals with Washington, and he’s right,” Cruz said. “He has given hundreds of thousands of dollars to Democrats.”

3. Rubio takes Trump to schoolMoments after Rubio and Trump’s immigration squabble, Rubio invoked another lawsuit Trump has been involved in — this time with Trump University.

Trump touted his deal-making prowess as he talked about how the U.S. is losing jobs to Mexico and China. “You don’t know anything about it because you’re a lousy businessman,” Rubio said. “I don't know anything about bankrupting companies. I don't know anything about starting a fake university.”

People borrow $36,000 in loans to attend a “fake school,” Rubio said. “And you know what they got? They got to take a picture with a cutout of Donald Trump. That’s what they got for $36,000.”

4. Selling watchesIn another skirmish, after Trump mentioned Rubio’s financial history, the Florida senator suggested the brash billionaire wouldn’t even be on stage had it not been for the riches he inherited.

“Here's a guy who buys a house for $179,000 and sells to it a lobbyist who's probably here for $380,000 and then legislation is passed,” Trump said. “You tell me — this guy!”

“If he hadn’t inherited $200 million, you know where Donald Trump would be right now? Selling watches in Manhattan,” Rubio shot back.

Trump, of course, dismissed Rubio’s claim and played up his business skills, saying he flipped $1 million into $10 billion. “No, no no, that is so wrong,” Trump responded. “I took $1 million and I turned it into $10 billion.

5. Limit on liesTrump supporters rarely challenge Trump on the veracity of his often controversial remarks. But Rubio isn't a Trump supporter and accused him of lying about the lawsuit in Poland.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. That was 38 years ago," Trump said.

"Oh, he lied 38 years ago," Rubio said sarcastically. "I guess there's a statute of limitation on lies."

6. Trump praises Planned ParenthoodTrump said he would defund the women's health organization because he's anti-abortion, but he also lavished praise.

"I'm totally against abortion having to do with Planned Parenthood, but millions and millions of women, cervical cancer, breast cancer, are helped by Planned Parenthood," Trump said. "So you can say whatever you want, but they have millions of women going through Planned Parenthood, that are helped greatly."

7. Robot Rubio respondsRubio didn’t just shed the idea that he’s a robot. He handed the label to Trump.

Challenging each other on insurance proposals, Trump bragged that his would have “many different plans” before reiterating it would have “so many different plans” and adding it would have “many, many different plans.” He also repeatedly emphasized that the federal government should have gotten rid of “the lines around each state” to create more competition.

Rubio accused Trump of having just five lines. “Everyone’s dumb, he’s going to make America great again. Win, win, win. He’s winning in the polls. And the lines around the states,” Rubio said, mocking the front-runner. “Every night. Same thing.”

8. Trump will release his tax returns…after his auditsMitt Romney this week called on the top three presidential candidates to release their tax returns, hinting that Trump’s could contain a “bombshell.”

In typical Trump fashion, the billionaire unleashed an insult before addressing the issue. He slammed Romney on the debate stage for looking “like a fool” when he released his tax returns during the 2012 cycle under pressure from Democrats, such as then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, before commenting in his own situation.

“I want to file it except for many years, I've been audited every year — twelve years or something like that,” Trump explained. “Every year they audit me, audit me, audit me.”

Trump will “absolutely” release his tax returns, “but I'm being audited now for two or three now so I can't.”

Rubio said he would release his Friday or Saturday. Cruz said he will have an additional two years’ worth of taxes on Friday and said Trump’s audit underscores the need for him to disclose his returns.

9. Trump could be in court come JulyTrump has suggested if Cruz becomes the nominee he could be tied up in litigation over whether he’s constitutionally eligible for the White House. But Cruz pulled a Trump on The Donald, telling the crowd Trump could be tied up in court come July over Trump University.

“It's a fraud case. His lawyers have scheduled a trial for July,” Cruz said. “If you want to think about if this man is the nominee, having the Republican nominee on the stand in court being cross-examined about whether he committed fraud — you don't think the mainstream media will go crazy on that?”

Trump said Cruz was only going after him because the businessman is “beating him awfully badly in the polls” and downplayed the suit as merely a civil case that he’ll win easily.

But Trump also had some advice for the Texas senator. “I know you're embarrassed and I know you're embarrassed but keep fighting,” he said. “Swing for the fences.”

10. Middle East peace isn't a real-estate dealRubio slammed Trump for remarking that he would be an “honest broker” in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and stay neutral, calling that stance “anti-Israel.” Palestinians teach their children that it’s glorious to kill Jewish people, Rubio said.

“The bottom line is a deal between Israel and the Palestinians, given the current makeup of the Palestinians, is not possible, and so the next president of the United States needs to be someone like me who will stand firmly on the side of Israel,” he added.

Trump disregarded Rubio’s response because he’s not a negotiator. “I watched him melt down and I’ll tell you it was one of the saddest things I’ve ever seen. And these people may even be tougher than Chris Christie,” Trump said in a clear jab at Rubio, who quickly shot back that Middle East peace isn't a real-estate deal.

“No, no, no. A deal is a deal,” Trump declared, before conceding that that particular scenario would probably be “the toughest deal of any kind.”

11. Can somebody attack me, please?Ben Carson had great view of the Trump-versus-Rubio-versus-Cruz show that dominated the debate.

“First of all this, this guy’s a choke artist, and this guy’s a liar,” Trump said, looking at Rubio and Cruz after each line of attack.

CNN moderator Wolf Blitzer failed to keep the stage under control as Trump, Rubio and Cruz all tried to speak over one another.